[have you had a violent moodswing today | accomplished]
[the sounds of | Hollywood Nights ~ Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band]
A while back I snagged a lot of “As-is” Nikon SLR cameras on eBay.
There were six in all and based on the pictures three of them were
actually intact, so I figured at least one would work.
Two of those SLRs were a Nikon N70 and A Nikon N80.
I put batteries in both and they both powered on. The N70, however
had a flashing error message on the screen and, allegedly, a steep
learning curve.
With that in mind, I went with the Nikon N80 It is compatible with
the automatic lenses that I own for the D40X and D3100, so I decided to
start with that one.
I went out with my slightly broken 18-55mm lens and over two days shot a very nice roll of film.
Here are some samples from yesterday:
Here are some from today:
The weather was a little better today, but you can only do so well on a dreary mid-west December day.
Also, I’m happy with the developing, which I started doing myself in the kitchen last month.
I plan to give the N70 a spin fairly soon, if I can get the error
message to go away. I’ve read that it is a fairly odd ball camera.
Needless to say, I’m looking forward to that one.
I also decided to take my Minolta SRT-102 to the skate park this
afternoon. Hilariously enough, some kid recognized that it was, at
least, a Minolta.
Anyway, the SRT-102 went into production in ’73 and ended in’75. They
come in chrome and black body styles. Mine is black. I used the Rokkor
58mm f=1.8 lens tha came with my SRT-101. Yes, the lens is somewhat
banged up. I tripped over a child and the lens hit concrete.
The lens ended up with exactly no functional damage.
Anyway, here are some pictures. They are heavy on the green, but
that is what happens when I just kind of wing it with the chemical
temperatures during the developing of the film.
Again, this is a dreary November day in the mid-west. I’ll run
another roll sometime in Spring or Summer and see what I end up with.
Eleven or twelve years ago, I was given a Nikon F 35mm camera.
This was Nikon’s first (I think) SLR in the sense that we have come to know them.
I’ve had it for years but never actually used it until this evening.
The lighting was not ideal for using an old camera with no light meter,
but my images really didn’t come out too badly.
Time-wise, this was right before sunset on a dreary mid-western November evening.
I’ll take it back out later in the spring or summer and see how things look on much more pleasant day.
Warning! This is a mostly AI-generated thing. I am not exactly thrilled with how it was written.
Have you ever been gifted something, tucked it away, and then
forgotten about it? Several years ago, I was given the equipment and
chemicals to develop my own film, and it ended up collecting dust for a
long time. There were a few reasons for that: I wasn’t actively using
film in those days, film can be expensive, and, honestly, the idea of
developing it myself was quite intimidating. However, last weekend, a
situation forced me to revisit this long-forgotten gift, and it turned
into an unexpected adventure.
The Dilemma: Last weekend, I found myself in a bit of a photography
predicament. I had taken the wrong lenses for the DSLR I had brought
with me, and to make matters worse, I had brought the wrong DSLR for the
lenses I had on hand. In my other bag, I discovered a few 35mm cameras
with film. One of them was a Canon EOS Rebel 2000 with an automatic
lens, so I decided to load it with 35mm film and hope for the best.
DIY Film Development: Initially, I considered sending the film out
for professional development, but then I thought, “Why not give it a try
myself?” I took my last roll, loaded it into the Canon EOS Rebel 2000,
and headed outside to shoot a sacrificial practice roll. That was on
November 6th. The next morning, I decided to dive into the world of DIY
film development. Little did I know, it would be quite an adventure.
The Trials and Tribulations: If anything could go wrong, it did. The
black bag I used for loading the film into the development tank broke,
which was a major setback. The film was also slightly exposed to light
when I cracked open the canister, leaving me lamenting the potential
loss.
Once
I managed to get the film onto the reel, I thought I was on the right
track. However, it seems the film got off the rails (literally)
somewhere along the way, leaving me with another moment of lament.
My containers for mixing the powdered chemicals turned out to be too
small, but I was already committed and on a tight schedule, so I decided
to approximate the quantities, relying on my best judgment. Since I’m
neither a post office worker nor a drug dealer, I didn’t have a scale
that could measure quantities as small as I needed. This meant I had to
wing it with the powdered chemicals.
Temperature control also proved to be a challenge as I had only one
microwave. My chemicals were a little warmer than I would have
preferred, but I hoped it would still work.
The Surprise: Once everything was mixed up, I forged ahead with the
development process. A fun little side note – the leaky lid of the tank
tried to explode off toward the end. Fortunately, I had the foresight to
work over the sink, so it wasn’t as catastrophic as it could have been.
Needless to say, when I finally finished the process, I was surprised
to see images on the developed film. I scanned them that night, and
unsurprisingly, the quality was all over the place.
Here is most of the roll:
In
conclusion, my adventurous dive into DIY film development might have
resulted in images that ended up with that “badly exposed Polaroid”
look—entertaining, but not quite what I was aiming for. Nonetheless,
this experience has only ignited a stronger resolve within me to perfect
the art of film development.
In the next few days, I’m planning to invest in larger containers and
mix the chemicals correctly. I’m eager to give it another shot. I’ve
already purchased a couple more rolls of film, allowing me ample room
for practice and improvement.
As I reflect on the trials and errors of my first attempt, I’m
reminded that mastery often stems from repeated practice and learning
from mistakes. The haphazard yet intriguing results only fuel my
determination to achieve the stunning, high-quality images I envision.
This journey has rejuvenated my passion for analog photography and has
become a stepping stone toward honing my craft.
